Among the many “best photos of the year” slideshows gracing the Web this month, here’s a stunning assemblage of 40 that will have you studying your screen for quite a while.

This is the first of three installments shown on boston.com, and the second and third parts will be posted there tomorrow and the next day, according to the site.

Included in these photos is the famous image of lightning shooting from a cloud of ash during the May eruption of the Chaiten volcano in Chile, as well as photos from the war in Afghanistan, the flooding in the Midwest and the violent drug war in Mexico.

Click here to visit boston.com or click on the screen capture below to check out the images.

Enjoy!

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